


The Future of A Family

by Zekeboy98



Series: The Inquisitor Saga [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28474950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zekeboy98/pseuds/Zekeboy98
Summary: The Inquisitor Trevelyan Saga finale. Inquisitor Leonardo Trevelyan, after years of not attending, attends his Aunt Lucille’s famous family ball with a mission to change his family for the better.
Relationships: Male Inquisitor/Josephine Montilyet
Series: The Inquisitor Saga [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489745
Kudos: 5





	The Future of A Family

Tonight was the winter solstice of the 43th year in the ninth age of the Chantry Calendar: The Dragon Age. The day was celebrated differently throughout all the lands of Thedas. In the south, nations such as Ferelden and Orlais enjoyed a nice, layer of new, soft snow and drank tea in their warm and cozy homes. In the north, countries such as the Tevinter Imperium and Antiva didn’t experience the first fall of snow. Instead, they were insistent on singing and dancing in the streets in preparation for a new year. 

The Free Marches did things differently, specifically in Ostwick.

In Ostwick, the night of the winter solstice was a momentous event for the Trevelyan Family. It was the night that the very well regarded and generous Lucille Trevelyan threw her famous family ball. Trevelyan members from all over Thedas gathered under one roof for one night where they could catch up with each other, inform everyone about their lives and have a grand time. It was inevitable during such a night that huge crowds would form around a Trevelyan who noticeably accomplished a lot during the year and for the first hour of the celebration it was the Trevelyan’s most famous bard and musician.

Philliam Bernard Aloicious Trevelyan

“And after all the fighting, crying and vomiting of that night, Lady Anabelle looked me straight in the eyes and said ‘Are you available for a next party, next week?’”

The entire crowd around him began laughing.

“I accepted the request of course.” Philliam continued. “After all, there was vintage Orleasian wine and cheese and she paid me a hefty price.”

The crowd continued to laugh and cry as Philliam strung a triumphant chord on his lute. Approaching from his right side in the crowd, Philliam witnessed another Trevelyan slowly clapping and smirking. Philliam’s triumphant smirk started to wane, not enough for the crowd to notice however.

“Well done Philliam, well done cousin.” the Trevelyan remarked as the crowd’s laughter started dying down.

“Joshua…” Philliam greeted.

“Playing the lute for lesser known nobility in Orlais is certainly...entertaining to listen to, but as a respected scholar myself I have discussed ancient architecture with some of the best minds in all of Thedas.” Joshua bragged.

“Oh I’m certain no one them could beat Lady Anabelle’s warm hospitality.” Philliam replied with a grin.

The crowd gave a small chuckle.

“Are you sure about that?” Joshua questioned, taking a small sip of his wine. “Brother Genitivi makes quite the mean tea.”

The crowd gasped.

“Well I for one was able to go on tour across Orlais, Ferelden, Antiva, Nevarra and the Free Marches singing some of my most well-known songs.” Philliam harked back.

Philliam could’ve swore that his cousin yawned in his face. He looked around and saw that everyone around him was clearly entertained by the rivalry two cousins had and as an entertainer knew he couldn’t disappoint the audience.

“A tour for music surely isn’t as grand as a tour in archaeology.” Joshua shrugged. “After all, my most recent tour took me to the Anderfels where I discovered an ancient statue carved in the likeness of Andraste. My efforts were even recognized by Grand Cleric Marcelline in Orlais.”

The crowd started to applaud Joshua as he feigned embarrassment from the attention. Philliam felt himself losing his grip on the ground, to a non-performer nonetheless. He saw it from over half of the crowd turning their bodies from him to face Joshua to even some people whispering whether he could top such a feat, especially as a bard. Fortunately for him, he had an ace up his sleeve.

“An audience with a Grand Cleric is all fine and dandy, but it can in no way top a personal performance for a Divine, Victoria to be exact.” Philliam revealed.

Everyone gasped, audibly louder than they had for Joshua’s achievement with the Grand Cleric. Some express doubt in Philliam’s words including Joshua himself, after all Philliam was a bard and bard were excellent fable tellers.

“It’s as true as the sun in the sky.” Philliam continued. “In fact, after my performance, she gave me some advice from her own bard days. Advice that proved to be very valuable for my career.”

Joshua was stumped and the crowd became nearly silent, waiting for Joshua to somehow top Philliam’s encounter with Divine Victoria. He looked around trying to avoid the eye contact of everyone around him, but Philliam saw the nervous sweats dripping from his forehead. All he could do was whistle, proud of beating his cousin. Fortunately for Joshua, the awkward silence didn’t last long due to another crowd being formed near the front entrance of the estate.

Leonardo Trevelyan, The Inquisitor and Herald of Andraste, had arrived.

“Looks like our time to shine has passed cousin.” Philliam chuckled. “It was a nice little back and forth.”

“It was…” Joshua replied, Philliam being able to see and sense his wounded ego in his demeanor.

Philliam watched on as the huge crowd around Leonardo continued to grow by the second. Laughing to himself, he looked down at his lute, tuning it and warming up his vocals in accordance to what Divine Victoria told him. Playing a chord or two, he was satisfied with himself.

“Enjoy yourselves tonight everyone!” Philliam cheered, as he started a musical number on his lute. “It’ll be one to remember!”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After gaining experience attending outings and celebrations as the Inquisitor in many Orleasian and Fereldan get-togethers, Leo had gotten used to being crowded by adoring people. Although he expected some sort of crowd to join around him tonight, he didn’t expect he would be so popular, especially since he was a Trevelyan just like most everyone else in the estate. Beside him holding his arm was his love Josephine, who would be experiencing her first Aunt Lucille ball. To the side of them were his sister Lady Aurora-Dawn and her husband Elias and lastly there was their father, the previous Bann, Lucious Trevelyan.

The five of them kept pushing forward trying to get towards the center of the room. Surprisingly, Leo and Josephine remained relatively calm while Dawn, Elias and even Lucious became visibly annoyed. Just when things were almost about to become too unbearable, the five of them were saved by the clinking of a glass.

“That’s enough everyone!” Aunt Lucille laughed, holding the glass. “Please allow them to enjoy the festivities like we all are.”

The crowd respecting their host of the night agreed to disperse, reluctant as they were. With them gone, it paved a way for the five of them to approach Aunt Lucille and reunite with her.

“Thank you Aunt Lucille.” Leo smiled. “It’s so great to see you.”

“And you as well.” Aunt Lucille replied with a smile. “And who is your lady friend?”

“This is Josephine Montilyet.” Leo introduced. “She’s my significant other.”

“It’s such an honor to meet you, Lady Lucille.” Josephine bowed. “Leo has told me so much about you.”

“Then surely he told you that I love hugs.” Aunt Lucille laughing, going in to hug Josephine.

While in the hug, she looked up at Leonardo and used her mouth to word ‘She’s a cute one nephew.’. Leo started to blush.

“And is that who I think it is?” Aunt Lucille questioned in disbelief. “My niece, Aurora-Dawn?”

“Yes, it’s me Aunt Lucille.” Dawn laughed.

“Dear Maker, you look so much like your mother!” Aunt Lucille said as she hugged Dawn. “And who is this?”

“My husband, Elias.” Dawn introduced with a smile.

“Nice to meet you Aunt Lucille.” Elias said, going in for a hug.

“See this one gets my tradition.” Aunt Lucille joked, accepting the hug.

At last, Aunt Lucille was faced with the last person of the party of five. Her baby brother, Lucious Trevelyan.

“Hello sister.” Lucious nodded.

“Brother, you’re looking a lot better than the last time I saw you.” Aunt Lucille noted.

“I feel a lot better as well.” Lucious smiled.

“Well, you’ll have to tell me all about it.” Aunt Lucille said, handing a full glass of wine to him from one of the small, circular tables all around the room.

“My sister and I will do some reuniting.” Lucious explained. “The four of you should go have fun tonight.”

“Yes! Tonight is for you all.” Aunt Lucille cheered. “And Leo, I received your letter last week. I’ll make sure to give you time to give your speech at the usual ceremony.”

“Thank you Aunt Lucille.” Leo bowed.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After their reunion with Aunt Lucille, the two couples went their separate ways to enjoy the different activities that the ball held. The first activity that Leonardo and Josephine indulged themselves in was a painting and wine session. Around two dozen guests sat in chairs in an area on the far right side of the first floor and prepared their painting materials. A servant went to each painter and offered them a glass of wine. Josephine gladly accepted a red wine and Leo, a white wine. They drank together as they awaited the leading artist’s arrival. Once the artist arrived, he greeted everyone and informed them of the different tools they would each be using. There were a half dozen paint brushes, a paint palette with only 7 colors on it, a bucket of water and lastly the canvas in front of them. The session would last about an hour and a half and everyone was encouraged to paint ‘from their heart’. Once the preparations were finished, everyone immediately started painting. Josephine early started mixing her colors, knowing exactly what she wanted to paint. Leo on the other hand was stumped for the first few minutes. He debated whether he should paint Skyhold, but remarked that he was never good at painting landmarks and buildings. He then questioned if he should paint his mother’s famous garden, but he didn’t want to do a disservice to the wonderful place. As he searched his mind for ten minutes, he finally stumbled upon what he wanted to paint and eagerly got to work.

Once the hour had passed, everyone around each other started showing their paintings to each other. Many of the people around him painted portraits of green landscapes familiar to the Free Marches such as the Vimmark Mountains and some open plains. Josephine’s painting was that of a trade ship sailing the seas and which bore the Montilyet Crest. Once it was time for Leo to show his to Josephine, he proudly showed it to her.

“Is that…”

“It’s Shiloh, yes.” Leo confirmed before Josephine could actually guess.

“It looks amazing...dear.” Josephine smiled.

Leo knew his painting looked only slightly better than what a young child could conjur, but after all Shiloh was a horse and Leo knew he wouldn’t judge the painting of him.

At least Leo hoped not.

\------‐------

After the painting session, the two of them journeyed back outside to the front yard to place them in their carriage as they dried. Once they finished that task, they found themselves being enraptured by a magic show that was occurring on the far left side of the front yard. Journeying to the area, they saw that the magic show was hosted by three mages. One of the mages wore eye-catching red robes and commanded the element of fire. The second mage wore similar robes but they were blue instead and she commanded the element of ice. The final mage in the middle of the trio wore purple robes and commanded the element of electricity. Together, the trio put on a magnificent light show that gathered the attention of many adults and many more children and teenagers. The fire mage produced a warm stream of fire that not only was a spectacle to watch but also kept the audience warm from the winter winds. The ice mage, which was the most child friendly of the bunch, conjured up ice magic and caused it to snow. She wouldn’t occasionally create a miniature snowman for the little kids attending. Lastly the electricity mage created harmless sparkles of light that rain upon the crowd and the occasional static would cause people’s hair to rise. Once the current show was nearly done, Leo could see that Dawn and Elias were watching the show. Elias seemed to wear an unimpressed expression, especially towards the fire mage.

“I can do better.” he mumbled to himself.

“I’m sure you can darling.” Dawn chuckled.

\----------------------

After briefly catching up with Dawn and Elias outside, Leo and Josephine finally returned inside to enjoy the rest of the ball. Before they could even think of doing another activity, both of their stomachs started to hurl. It had been hours since they ate anything and Leo was a little angry at himself for not taking the two of them to the food court a little earlier in the night. He desperately hoped that there was still good food left.

Fortunately enough, there was and it was still warm and fresh. Multiple cheeses from Ferelden and Orlais, spices from Antiva, meats from the farms of the Free Marches, and bread from the Tevinter Imperium, everything looked so appetizing and neither one of them knew where to start. Grabbing one of the small plates offered for guests, the two started picking one of each food from the options offered and once their plates were full, they found a nearby table to enjoy their conglomeration of meals. Leo asked about Josephine’s first time experience attending an Aunt Lucille ball and she remarked how free she feels, mainly due to how free Leo himself expressed himself. No false smiles, insincere falteries, just free. Once the two of them finally finished their meals, Leo suddenly urged Josephine to get dessert with her. Josephine noticed that Leo’s was very excited to eat dessert, more than any other time they were at a ball and were offered the same. Walking over to the dessert table, Leo scanned the area murmuring to himself. When he finally found the dessert item he was looking for, he showed it to Josephine.

“These are my Aunt’s famous creamed filled flaky biscuits.” Leo explained. “These things are the best. Here taste one.”

Feeding Josephine the biscuit, she carefully chewed it and tried her best to savor the rich flavor cream and tasteful bread.

“Good am I right?” Leo laughed.

Before Josephine could even answer, she quickly grabbed another one and placed it to her mouth, taking a bite of it.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Leo laughed, grabbing his own biscuit.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the two of them finished their food break, they returned to the middle of the floor where a huge crowd was gathering. Josephine was visibly confused, thinking that a crowd was forming around another Trevelyan with something super interesting about them, but Leo knew exactly what was going on...the ceremony of careers. Watching his Aunt Lucille approach the stage with a genuine and contagious smile, she cleared her throat and gathered the attention of all attendees.

“It’s time.” Leo sighed, nervousness creeping into his voice.

Finally realizing what was about to occur, Josephine wrapped her hands around Leo’s right arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Looking up to him, she gave him a reassuring smile.

“You’ll do fine, my love.” she encouraged.

Smiling back down at her, he kissed her on the lips and returned his attention to the stage.

“Well everyone, it is that time of the night.” Aunt Lucille started. “As we near the end of our celebration together, we will be introducing our first time guests and future of the Trevelyan line to express what they plan to pursue as a career. However, the ceremony will begin differently tonight. It is my honor to call upon my nephew, Leonardo Trevelyan to speak to all about something he is very passionate about.”

Everyone in the room gave a huge round of applause as Leonardo approached the stage and greeted his Aunt Lucille. The two of them hugged but before the hug was finished, Aunt Lucille whispered something into his ear.

“Whatever happens, know that I will always support your decision.”

Once the embrace finished, Leo gave Aunt Lucille an appreciative smile and she left the center stage. Turning towards the crowd before him, Leo witnessed just how big his family was. As a child when he first stepped upon this stage, he could barely see past the first three rows of people. Now as a full grown adult, he could see that more than 100 Trevelyans stood before him, waiting for him to give his speech. As he looked through the crowd, he found Dawn who was standing next to their father and Elias, all of them giving encouraging smiles. Closing his eyes, he murmured a small prayer to himself and he began.

“Good evening everyone.” Leo started. “I appreciate you all giving me this time to speak to you all with truth and honor.”

Pausing for a moment, Leo cleared his throat. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy to say, but he had to say it.

“As a young boy, I strived to make my father proud of me. As much as you all may or may not want to admit it, we all did. But in that road of trying to please our parents, we’ve lost a sense of courage and integrity. Many of you know that I was destined to become a templar myself, but in those years of training, I slowly discovered who I really was and recovered my sense of integrity. My father didn’t take it so well and I ran away from it all; my career and my family. Little did I know that a little over a year later after that event that I would be thrusted into a new destiny, a new career and new family: The Inquisition.”

Softs murmurs started riling through the crowd, but they were still soft enough for Leo to push through his speech.

“For the longest time I was content with my life in the Inquisition. I did work that I was proud of and happy to do and I grew very fond of the new family I made while doing that work. I didn’t want to return to the Trevelyans and I didn’t care to change the family. It wasn’t until my sister, a sister that I didn’t know about because she was a mage, journeyed to Skyhold to find me did I realize and remember that the Trevelyans weren’t as lost as I thought. I also realize that it would be selfish of me and a disservice to the family if I didn’t initiate the change I wanted to see.”

The murmurs started to get even louder. A few years ago, Leo might’ve not had the confidence to finish such a speech before an apparent disapproving crowd. But he wasn’t the Leo he was a few years ago. He was now a Leo forged by his experiences in the Inquisition, with Dawn and Ilene, and a Leo who finally stood his ground against his father and knew that he had to fight for the things that mattered to him, despite the opposition.

"I come to you all tonight to urge the change of direction our family has moved towards for the past dozen generations. We must move our family from a family that is obsessed with status, pride and reputation to a family that loves, supports and appreciates everyone, despite what they choose in life. In this way, I hope that we will no longer ignore our children because of what they choose for a living or how they are born. In this way, I hope that no child ever feels the need to sacrifice their life in order to garner some false sense of pride from their parents. In this way, I hope that we can inspire ourselves to be the best versions of ourselves and inspire others to be the best versions of themselves they can be."

Taking a moment to take a deep breath. He looked to the crowd and smiled.

"Thank you." he concluded.

Leonardo stepped from the stage and back into the crowd. He didn’t expect any applause but he did hear at least Philliam happily strumming his lute for him in the back, which caused him to crack a smile. When he finally reached his family, Josephine had joined them and they all applauded him in his speech.

“That took true courage my son.” Bann Trevelyan smiled. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you father.” Leo returned with a smile of his own.

“Thank you once again for your very inspiring speech Leonardo.” Aunt Lucille spoke, taking back the stage. “Although many would say that it was blunt, I support your vision for our family.”

Although people were still shaken up by the speech, still not sure what to make of it, Aunt Lucille continued on with the career ceremony. 14 children were brought up to the stage, bearing their different colored pendants most of which were silver and bronze. Only one of the children, who was a girl of about seven years had a gold pendant. Aunt Lucille grabbed her hand and per tradition, she asked the little girl what her name was and what she wanted to be when she was older.

“My name is Dove Trevelyan and I want to be…” she started.

Looking into the crowd, she looked for her mother and father. Finding them, she saw that they wore serious yet confident demeanors. She gave them a nervous smile and they simply responded with a nod.

“I want to be…”

Before she could answer, she once again looked into the crowd and found Leo. Leo simply smiled at her, remembering the time he had gone through the same ritual and giving off a supportive aura. She smiled back at him and then took a deep breath.

“I want to be...a botanist.” she answered.

The crowd gasped. Trevelyans with gold pendants always entered higher positions in the Chantry such as Revered Mothers, Grand Clerics or highly regarded scholars. Despite the apparent protest, Dove was happy with her decision. Stepping beside her, another young Trevelyan, this time a boy, stepped forward.

“I want to be a painter.” he proudly proclaimed.

Whispers started getting louder.

“And I want to become a bard!” another young Trevelyan cheered.

“Great choice young one!” Philliam laughed.

A tear was nearly brought to Leo’s eyes as these young Trevelyans, the next generation of Trevelyans proclaimed with courage and without doubt what they really want to pursue in their lives. He knew getting the adults would be trickier, but even then in the crowd he saw some parents and other relatives cheering them on, despite the majority still being skeptical.

He had planted the seed for change in his family and now that seed was growing into something beautiful.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

As Aunt Lucille’s ball started coming to an end, Leo found himself on the upstairs balcony looking over the land of Ostwick. Beside him was his Uncle Zain, Ilene’s father, and in Leo’s hand was the urn of his cousin. The two of them had been talking for the last ten minutes about Ilene; memories from younger years. They laughed together as they thought of Ilene and this encounter was something that had never happened between the two. Reminiscing about Ilene was a welcomed surprise to Leo, but he also wanted to ask his Uncle something in regards to his daughter.

“So, that’s what you plan to do with her?” Lord Zain asked.

“Yes...I feel like it’s only right...after all this time.” Leo answered.

“Well…” he replied. “You have my blessing child.”

Lord Zain patted Leo on his back as he started walking towards the balcony door. Before he went inside, he stopped himself and faced Leo again.

“Give it time Leonardo.” Lord Zain said. “We’ve all lost so many people due to the old ways...we can only survive with a new direction. They’ll come around soon enough.”

“Thank you Uncle…”

Uncle Zain nodded and left the balcony, leaving Leo to himself on the balcony for a good minute. Once that minute had passed, he heard two pairs of footsteps approaching from behind him. Approaching from his left and right side respectively, Dawn and Josephine arrived and touched his shoulders. He smiled at their presence and was extremely glad that they were the ones to catch him in this vulnerable state.

“Hey you two.” Leo smiled.

“Hey.” the both of them simultaneously replied.

Looking to his left, he gave a big grin to Dawn who returned with her own. The two of them started laughing.

“We did it Dawn.” Leo chuckled. “We planted the seed of change in our family.”

“Yes we did Leo.” Dawn agreed in her laughter.

Turning over to his right to meet Josephine, he softly kissed her on the cheek.

“I couldn’t have done any of that without either of your support.” Leo said. “Oh how I wish Dorian was here to see this!”

Looking back down at Ilene’s urn, he sighed.

“And I wish she was here to see it as well.”

“I’m sure she’d be very proud of what you’ve accomplished Leo.” Dawn sympathized.

“Yes…” he quietly replied.

Leo looked down at the urn, paradoxically feeling sadness and happiness. He sighed and looked back up towards the terrain before them.

“For a long time, I thought keeping Ilene’s ashes at Skyhold would be the best resting place for her.” Leo explained. “Well after tonight, I’m glad to say I believe I found another.”

Grabbing a hold of the urn’s lid, he slowly removed it, revealing a dark interior. Reaching inside the urn, Leo grabbed a handful of the ashes and passed the urn to Dawn for her to grab a handful of the ashes. After she finished grabbing her handful, she passed the urn to Josephine, who grabbed the last handful of Ilene’s ashes. Closing his eyes and reciting a small prayer, he let go of the ashes, the individual specks getting caught in the wind. Shortly after, Dawn and Josephine let go of their own ashes. The three of them watched on as the ashes danced in the wind and glistened in the moonlight.

**“I return you to the land of our family.” Leo finished. “A land I can finally say I am proud of.”**


End file.
